19 May 2014

Today we got up without a solid plan for the day. The weather predictions were not so great and we hated to plan on something scenic only to have it rain. After some planning and stratigizing, we decided to start with Beatrix Potter’s home, Hill Top and go from there. We hoped to also take a boat ride on one of the lakes if the weather held out.

When we arrived at Hill Top, we were thrilled to find out that parking was free! We just had to wait a few minutes until a spot became available; but that didn’t take long. Then we bought our tickets for the house and headed up through her gardens to it.

 

She donated her home and the thousands of acres she owned across the Lake District to the National Trust so that everyone could enjoy them. Her home has been preserved as it was back when she lived there so there is no electricity or modern heating or cooling. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the home.

There were many items inside that had to do with her life, her work , and her belongings. Some of her drawings and sketches were framed and there were replicas of one of her letters that had drawings of Peter Rabbit as well as the other rabbits. It was hard to see them well because of the lack of lighting.

Back out in the garden, we were able to see the lovely flowers and vegetables planted there.

We also saw sheep and a few rabbits hopping around next to the garden.

In the shop, we enjoyed looking at souvenirs and got a book on her life with lots of pictures.

Then we drove on to the next sight which was Dove Cottage, the home of William Wordsworth.

By the time we got there, we were pretty hungry, so we stopped in the café by the car park to get a roasted veggie sandwich and potato and leek soup. We got our tickets for the house with enough time to just see the beginning of the museum before going down to the house for a tour. Again, we unfortunately were not allowed to take pictures. But we did get to see some interesting thing in the house and hear how it had been updated. It seems to have been a dark and dreary little house in its day. The windows were small and they arrived in winter when things were dark, anyway.

After leaving the house, we were able to see the garden

including an arbor where he had a good view down to the lake. The time when he lived in this house is when he wrote some of his most famous works.

          "This plot of orchard-ground is ours;                      
          My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;
          Here rest your wings when they are weary;
          Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
          Come often to us, fear no wrong;
          Sit near us on the bough!
          We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
          And summer days, when we were young;
          Sweet childish days, that were as long
          As twenty days are now!"
                          - William Wordsworth

We enjoyed sitting in the arbor for a few minutes to enjoy the view. Then we went back the museum and looked through the rest of the exhibit before leaving for our boat trip.

We ended up getting there with plenty of time to meet the boat. We were able to watch the Gondola coming in for the evening.

Once our boat arrived,

we boarded and started a 90-minute cruise around Coniston Water. The cruise was meant to be a "Sparrows and Amazons" tour to point out the locations in the books and the films. We know nothing about these books, so the references meant nothing to us. But there were two Japanese ladies on the cruise who knew them all. The sights were beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Once we were back on land, we drove back to the cottage for supper of pizza and salad.

18 May 2014

Today we got to sleep in! We planned to meet the church group for the hike at Tarn Hows which didn’t start until 11:30. According to an online map, it would only take about 4 minutes to get there from our cottage! We had a nice brunch, packed up our things for the day and headed out. We had to follow the map I pulled up on the iPad as the roads were too small to be on our paper map and the tarn could not be found via GPS.

We pulled up to a small parking area that had a small sign showing a footpath to the tarn. Just as we got out of the car, we could see Roman, the pastor driving by. We waved and he pulled over along with another vehicle following him. He told us that there was another car park a little further on, so we followed them down the road. Soon everyone was gathered and we met some of the other members we hadn’t met yesterday. One lady, Whitney, was an American ex-pat who had been living in the UK since the 1970's. Her husband, Roy, is English. She is an Adventist but he is not. Also, we met Mia, Roman’s wife and their two children. He is from the Czech Republic and she is from the Ukraine.  Before we started the walk, we took a group photo.

We took a long and leisurely walk around the lake,

stopping to chat and eat snacks. There were ducks on the pond,

a small dead fish on the bank,

Baby Pike, we were told

 lots of dogs,

cows in the open,

a beautiful peninsula,

and many, many gorgeous views of the lake. We spent some time chatting with Roman and Mia and Whitney and Roy before saying our goodbyes and heading on to the next location. We were looking for a grocery store and the GPS directed us to Hawkshead which is a little old village that is near where Beatrix Potter lived and worked and which inspired her for many of her stories. There was no grocery store in sight when we arrived at the main car park. However seeing this village seemed like a fun thing to do so we parked and started to explore.

There were many quaint old buildings fitted closely together. Lots of cafes and restaurants.

Every shop was selling Beatrix Potter paraphernalia. Everywhere we turned, there was Peter Rabbit!

Then suddenly, we came around a corner and there was a grocery store... that was open until 10pm no less! So we moved on to see other things, planning to return to the store later on.

At last we found a café we wanted to eat at and we ordered hot drinks and cakes! The food was so good and the atmosphere charming.

- taken by Mom

Having cake - taken by Mom

We enjoyed relaxing for a few minutes. Then we headed up towards the ancient church that was around the corner. It was hard to tell if it was a Roman Catholic church or an Anglican church.

It was quaint and small with typical stained glass windows,

graves in the floor and above ground with effigies,

and frescos.

After looking around briefly, we left and headed to the grocery store. Once we arrived, we quickly found the items we needed and then headed home.

Once we got there, we made dinner and enjoyed it at the dining room table upstairs!

- taken by Mom

It was a relaxing evening on line until bedtime.

17 May 2014

Today is Sabbath and prior to our trip, we found the nearest SDA church to our cottage in Dalton-in-Furness. It was to take between 30 and 45 minutes to get there but was only about 17 miles away. This is due to the tiny roads on which you can barely go 40 mph safely even though the speed limit is 60! We had a little trouble finding the building because the address online did not have a street number. After two attempts, we did find it and free parking on the street.

The building was originally a Methodist church which was sold to the Adventists in the 1980's.

SDA church, Dalton-in-Furness, UK - taken by Mom

We past a man in a shirt and tie on the sidewalk and I wondered if he might be one of the members. After we went in and signed the guest book, the man reappeared in the church... sure enough, he was the pastor! We made it just as they were about to start church. We took our seats and waited.

Front of the church the acquired from previous church

Once they did start, the pastor had asked two newly baptized members from the church in South Side near Liverpool to give their testimonies. It was very interesting to hear their stories. The younger man had been through a lot of trouble with the law, drugs, and mental health problems. Now he is clean and doing a course on how to evangelize. The other man had quite a bit of exposure to religion, but once someone gave him "The Great Controversy," he learned a lot more that led him to join the church. He was older than the first man and originally from Ireland.

Craig (barely visible) and David receive a special blessing by the pastor and (?) an elder

After church, we enjoyed chatting with the congregants and were invited to join them on a hike the next day at Tarn Hows (a lake near where we are staying). We shook hands with the two men who gave their testimonies and then headed on our way. The first place we wanted to go was some place for lunch and where we could change our clothes. We headed towards a nearby abbey and when we saw a hotel near it, we decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the restaurant in the hotel was closed for the owner’s birthday. However the lady at the desk was very friendly and told Jan about a nice restaurant not far away with good food called "The Brown Cow."

- taken by Mom

 

It was actually a pub so you had to find a table, order at the bar, tell them your table number, pay, and then take your seat.

taken by Mom

We ordered a broccoli bake with vegetables

and cheese cannelloni.

- taken by Mom

We didn’t have to wait too long. The food was delicious but piping hot! After eating, we were able to change our clothes.

We drove back to the abbey and found we could park for free and walk around it on the street’s sidewalk without paying admission.

We couldn’t see it up close, but still close enough. It was much like the ruins of so many other abbeys we have seen on the trip. Part of it were held up with more modern devices, no doubt for safety.

Then we drove on towards the seashore. We ended up in a little village called Roa with free parking again! We were able to walk to the seaside and look across to a little island called Piel. We also saw a lookout structure that was used to watch for ships.

Watch house in Roa - taken by Mom

It had beach cobbles that were whole and not knapped as they are in Norfolk (I’ll be looking for that when we get to Norfolk later!). Mom went down to the water’s edge to look around and found some shells.

Once we reached the ferry landing to take people over to Piel Island, we sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunshine and sea air for a while.

Piel Island - taken by Mom

As we started our drive along the west coast back towards our cottage, we happened to see Conishead Priory and Buddhist Temple and pulled off to see it. There was another free car park and we were able to walk on some of the trails below the buildings which had some beautiful old and big trees and bushes including a rhododendron that was absolutely huge!

Huge rhododendron - taken by Mom

Eventually we came up to the buildings and found people milling around. There were some beautiful gardens and a green house. We could see the temple, but we couldn’t approach it very easily because they had party tents surrounding it for some upcoming festival. Technically, I think the whole place was closed for that reason; but no one asked us or the other visitors to leave. We did go into the Priory.

- taken by Mom

Apparently it was destroyed like some many other Catholic buildings by Henry VIII’s laws. It has not been a church for a long time. It was a type of spa for coal miners from Durham in the first part of the 20^th century. Now it is used to house Buddhist monks or students.

After that we drove home to have a relaxing evening at our cottage in our outdoor sitting area and through the gardens.